Chapter 11 - Patient Assessment

You arrive on scene to find a 45 year old male laying in the street. When you talk to him, he seems to realize you are there and opens his eyes, but he only grunts as you examine him, although he does appropriately to pain. What is his Glasgow Coma Scale?

9. (3 - 2 - 4)

You are assessing a patient complaining of squeezing chest pain who has no history of cardiac problems. As part of your secondary assessment, you should obtain ___________________.

A 12 ECG.

Pronator Drift is seen when ____________

A patient is asked to hold his or her arms straight out in front with palms up and his or her eyes shut.

It is MOST important to identify the age and sex of your patient because:

Age and sex can change how your patient presents

Sororous respiration's are MOST likely caused by:

An anatomical airway obstruction

Your entire assessment of a patient should:

Appear to be a seamless process

After performing your primary assessment of a patient, you next action should be to:

Decide what care is needed at the scene versus en rout to the hospital.

A key part of making your practice of prehospital care successful is for your to:

Develop and cultivate your own style of assessment and an overall strategy for evaluating and providing care.

A conscious patient's respiratory rate should be measured:

For a minimum of 30 seconds

During a 20-minute transport of a critical patient, you should make a concerted effort to perform an ongoing assessment _______ times.

Four

A responsive patient who is talking to crying:

Has a patent airway

The body's reaction to increased internal or external temperature would MOST likely cause the skin to become:

Hot and moist

A patient who gives the emergency department physician completely different information than he or she gave you in the field:

May have an organic condition, such as a brain tumor

A Babinski Reflex Test may be used to check ____________.

Neurological Function

What does the "O" stand for in "COASTMAP"?

Orientation

On most runs, the two MOST important pieces of patient history information that you need to obtain initially are the:

Patient's name and chief complaint

____________ entails gently striking the surfaces of the body, typically where it overlies various body cavities.

Percussion

Identifying the chief complaint is part of the ___________.

Primary Survey

When listening to a patient's lung sounds, which findings would be most likely if he or she was having an AMI?

Rales or Crackles at the bases

When examining the anterior abdomen of a patient who complains of abdominal pain:

Routinely palpate the least painful area(s) first.

It is appropriate to ask, "Would you sat the pain is similar to or worse than with previous episodes?" When determining the ____________ of a patient's pain.

Severity

In prehospital care, the priorities of evaluation and treatment are based on ____________

The degree of threat to the patient's life

A patient is generally considered to have orthostatic vital signs when:

The heart rate increases by 20 beats/min or more when going from supine to a standing position.

More often than not, the paramedic will form his or her general impression of a patient based on:

The initial presentation and chief complaint

A patient who does not respond to verbal or tactile stimuli is:

Unresponsive

Which of the following hazards would you LEAST likely encounter at the scene of a motor vehicle crash?

Unruly Patient

How should you palpate a patient's abdomen?

Using the ulnar surface of the hand.

The paramedic should address a patient:

as the patient wishes to be addressed.

Arterial pulses are a physical expression of:

left ventricular contraction

Asymmetry of the pupils:

must be correlated with the patient's overall presentation.

A patient with dysarthria has:

slurred speech

Blood pressure is the product of:

Cardiac output and peripheral vascular resistance

You are transporting a conscious middle-aged woman who fell from a second-story balcony while watering her plants. Full spinal motion restriction precautions have been implemented, supplemental oxygen is being administered, and an IV line of normal saline is in place. With a 15 minute estimated time of arrival at the hospital, the patient's mental status markedly decreases and her respiration's becomes shallow and are making a gurgling sound. Your FIRST action should be to:

Immediately suction her oropharynx

A neighbor finder her elderly female friend unresponsive on her kitchen floor. As you are performing your primary survey, the neighbor tells you that she does not known that happened to her friend. The patient moans when you speak to her and her breathing at normal rate with adequate depth. You should:

Insert an airway adjunct, apply supplemental oxygen, and implement spinal motion restriction precaution

After determining that the scene is safe, the FIRST steps in approaching a patient is to:

Introduce yourself to the patient

Objective patient information:

Is based on fact or observation.

Which of the following respiratory patterns would you expect to see in a patient with diabetic ketoacidosis? Biot, Kussmaul, Cheyne-Stokes, Apnea

Kussmaul

Best practice to describe recall auscultation is

Listening to sounds within the body with a stethoscope

Your patient will MOST likely develop a good first impression of you if you:

Look and act professional and confident.

Which of the following actions will provide the BEST personal protection when caring for a patient on uneven terrain?

Making lifts and moves as controlled as possible